Banding Record and Age

And - one more time - with feeling - THIS IS WHY WE BAND BIRDS!

We already knew that pelagic birds tend to have some of the highest records for age in the bird world. The oldest known U.S. wild bird – a coyly conservative 60 -- is a new mother. The bird, a Laysan albatross named Wisdom, was just spotted recently. Here is the full article. Almost as amazing as being a parent at 60 is the number of miles this bird has likely logged – about 50,000 miles a year as an adult – which means that Wisdom has flown at least 2 to 3 million miles since she was first banded. Or, to put it another way, that’s 4 to 6 trips from the Earth to the Moon and back again with plenty of miles to spare. If you want to look up ages of other oldest reported species you can click here.

Great Horned Owls nesting

People ask me all the time where to find owls. I always tell them that they are all around us, and several species seem to not only survive but flourish in metro/urban areas. A pair of Great Horned Owls in the Uptown/Minneapolis area are working on their family for this year. It is hard to see - but I put a red circle around the tail of the female as she is sitting on her eggs in this squirrel nest.

The fact that the male obviously knows I am here means that I was not as sneaky as I should have been. The crows in the area let me know where they were, and so I was probably not his biggest concern, but it is always a good idea to not interrupt their lives too much with human presence. I wish them luck! It is not done being cold yet!

Petition to keep Wind Farms Safe

This is an online petition by The American Bird Conservancy to make wind farms more bird friendly. They quote about one half million birds died in wind farms in 2009 and it is especially a problem with raptors in California. Their website is www.abcbirds.org.
They make it really easy. A couple of clicks and your petition is on the way. Wind energy is a great resource - but let's make it more safe for birds.

Great Burrowing Owl video

Get up close and personal with burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia). Mac Stone, wildlife photographer and field biologist for the National Audubon Society, hid his camera in a traffic cone and set it up outside of an owl burrow to capture these beauty shots of the birds. The video is a time-lapse of their daily movements and behaviors. Make sure you have sound up - that adds to this! (Burrowing owl video is second one on the page) http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201102182

Northern Saw-whet Owl - or Maximum Cute

Big thank you to friend Sue P, whose sharp ears and wanderlust for open spaces took her down a ways from a park we were both at this past weekend. She heard mobbing, and checked a red cedar tree for a possible predator - most likely a raptor. She found pellets and plenty of poop, indicating that an owl had been there. We took another look - and found this fantastic bird! Northern Saw-whet owls have been fairly easy to find in the Twin Cities this past winter. This bird has a small rodent in its feet, so he has obviously been hunting well. We were careful not to spend too much time just staring at him, though it was tempting. Owls do not fly off as readily as hawks do when they are stressed, which often leads people to think that they are "just fine" with the attention. Instead, they exhibit stress in different ways, and internalize much of it, so it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure to not intrude too much into their lives while we appreciate them.

Harpy Nest Found!

Great news! The first active Harpy Eagle nest ever recorded in Belize has been found, where the birds were previously thought to be extinct.

Red-tailed Hawk Super Bowl spread

Springbrook Nature Center has a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk who has been hunting squirrels and other tasty treats right around the main building. The feeders are well-stocked, and so there is the expected plethora of birds, as well as small mammals that appreciate the spilled seeds. The hawk started his Super Bowl Sunday with a shrew that he deftly caught, right outside a main viewing window. We also saw him - at very closer range - enjoy a Downy Woodpecker later on. Picked up feathers after his meal. Of course - I brought only my small camera so did not get good pics. The last pic in this series is of the bird sitting right over a suet feeder that we use on bird banding days.